| Understanding how different lighting affects | | | | person's eyes. |
| an image is half the work of creating better | | | | |
| photos. This article aims to give a brief | | | | Diffused light |
| overview of the different types of light you | | | | |
| might encounter as a photographer and how to | | | | Diffused light is non directional light, |
| use them to your advantage. | | | | where the intensity of light is even; for |
| | | | example, an overcast day. This light is |
| Direct light | | | | fantastic for portrait photography as it |
| | | | creates little or no shadow on a person's |
| Looking through the family photo album the | | | | face. This is quite flattering to most |
| other day, I noticed a recurring theme; photo | | | | people. For the same reason, diffused light |
| after photo of us squinting into the sun | | | | is also useful in macro, or close up |
| looking like ghosts with our flat, white | | | | photography. The evenness of light allows you |
| faces and dark holes where our eyes should | | | | to capture detail in your subject that might |
| have been. This is one of the most common | | | | otherwise be lost to overblown highlights or |
| mistakes people make when taking photos in | | | | deep shadows if taken in direct sunlight. |
| direct sunlight. By standing with your back | | | | There are some instances where this kind of |
| to the sun, you effectively flatten out the | | | | lighting can be detrimental to a picture. For |
| light and therefore your subject. All of | | | | instance, landscape photography. Taking a |
| those interesting lines and textures | | | | picture of an expansive scene with a flat |
| disappear and you are left with a one | | | | grey sky and dull colors through the |
| dimensional image. If you are shooting a | | | | landscape is just plain unappealing. For |
| portrait, you force your subject to look | | | | these instances some sunlight is preferable |
| directly into the sun. This makes it | | | | to create some interest in the sky and |
| difficult for them not to squint or contort | | | | contours of the land. |
| their face into all sorts of unappealing | | | | |
| shapes. If you are shooting in the middle of | | | | Different lighting conditions are useful for |
| the day, when the sun is high, the shape of | | | | different situations and different types of |
| their brows can also create dark shadows over | | | | photography. The thing to remember is that we |
| their eyes, effectively removing the most | | | | cannot alter the weather, but we can alter |
| effective feature in a portrait. | | | | our approach to taking pictures to cooperate |
| | | | with it. Be prepared for all situations and |
| This kind of light does have its advantages, | | | | have a couple of different ideas when you go |
| especially early morning and late afternoon | | | | out. If you want to take family portraits and |
| when the sun is low in the sky. The light | | | | find the light too harsh, find a tree or |
| tends to be more golden and can cast a warm | | | | shaded setting to work in. Be inventive. Be |
| glow over subjects and create some amazing | | | | adaptable. Experiment. Walk around your |
| colours. It is for this reason that landscape | | | | subjects to get an idea of how the light |
| photographers like to shoot at these times of | | | | changes at different angles. No matter the |
| day. It is also quite flattering for people | | | | lighting conditions there is always a way to |
| as the need to squint is less and late | | | | use them to your advantage. You just need to |
| afternoon light has a way of highlighting a | | | | find it. |